The Association Between TOEFL iBT Test Scores and the Common
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Research Memorandum
ETS RM-15-06
The Association Between TOEFL iBT
Test Scores and the Common
European Framework of Reference
(CEFR) LevelsSpiros Papageorgiou
Richard J. Tannenbaum
Brent Bridgeman
Yeonsuk Cho
August 2015
ETS Research Memorandum Series
EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR
James Carlson
Principal Psychometrician
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Beata Beigman Klebanov
Research Scientist
Heather Buzick
Resear
ch ScientistBrent Bridgeman
Distinguished Presidential Appointee
Keelan Evanini
Managing Research Scientist
Marna Golub-Smith
Principal Psychometrician
Shelby Haberman
Distinguished Presidential Appointee Donald Powers Managing Principal Research ScientistGautam Puhan
Principal Psychometrician
John Sabatini
Managing Principal Research Scientist
Matthias von Davier
Senior Research Director
Rebecca Zwick
Distinguished Presidential Appointee
PRODUCTION EDITORS
Kim Fryer
Manager, Editing Services Ayleen Stellhorn Editor
The Association Between TOEFL iBT
Test Scores and the Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR) Levels
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New JerseyVSDSDJHRUJLRX#HWVRUJ
The association between
TOEFL iBT
test scores and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levelsAction Editor:
Donald Powers
Reviewers:
Jonathan Schmidgall and Michael Kane
Abstract
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe (2001) is arguably one of the most influential language frameworks in the field of second language teaching and assessment, articulating a progression of language proficiency through a number of levels. Tannenbaum & Wylie (2008) mapped the TOEFL iBT test scores onto the CEFR levels to help test users and decision makers interpret TOEFL iBT test scores in terms of the CEFR levels. Based on the feedback of subsequent users and decisions makers, Educational Testing Service (ETS) revised the CEFR cut scores (i.e., minimum test scores required for each CEFR level) in 2014. In this research memorandum, we present the rationale for the revision of the CEFR cut scores and offer validity evidence that the revised cut scores (a) are reasonable and (b) do not negatively impact the quality of admissions decisions.Key words:
CEF R, cut scores, language proficiency levels, score interpretation, TOEFL iBT i S. Papageorgiou et al. The Association Between TOEFL iBTScores and CEFR Levels
Current conceptualizations of validity and the process of validation place emphasis on the int erpretation of a test score, its use, and the impact of that use (Bachman, 2005; Bachman & Palmer, 2010; Kane, 2006, 2013). Scores on language tests for speakers of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) are often used to classify test takers into different categories or levels of proficiency. In academic contexts, for example, TOEFL iBT test scores are used by universities employing English as the primary mode of instruction to determine whether prospective ESL students have sufficient English-language skills in order to be admitted (Chapelle, Enright, & Jamieson, 2008; Cho & Bridgeman, 2012). As Tannenbaum and Cho (2014) noted, these types of decisions are criterion based, in that a defined level of language proficiency should be met. However, a test score by itself does not indicate if the criterion has been met. One way torelate test scores to criteria is to map (i.e., associate or link) test scores with descriptions of levels
of language proficiency (Tannenbaum & Cho, 2014). The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) is probably the most influential language frameworks in the field of second language teaching and assessment articulating a progression of language proficiency through six main levels. It is not easy to establish whether and to what extent admission decisions into higher education are made in relation to the CEFR levels because no uniform policy exists across institutions or educational authorities. In their study, Carlsen and Deygers (2014) argued that B2 level is the most common requirement for admissions into European universities. For example, at the time of producing this research memorandum, the UK government required evidence of English-language proficiency at B2 level for students applying for a Tier 4 student visa to pursue an academic degree in the country. 1 also reported the same CEFR level requirement (B2) for students in an English-medium university in Turkey. However, in North America and other parts of the world outside Europe, where TOEFL iBT test scores are used to inform admission decisions, reference to the CEFR to set score requirements seems to be much less common, with universities, for example, setting their own, context-specific requirements, which can vary a lot from institution to institution (see, for example, Ling, Wolf, Cho, & Wang, 2014). The CEFR can be a useful tool for informing decisions about levels of English-language proficiency. However, it should be kept in mind that the CEFR was designed as a genericETS RM-15-06 1
S. Papageorgiou et al. The Association Between TOEFL iBTScores and CEFR Levels
reference document (as its title clearly indicates) so that it can be applied in a variety of contexts
(Milanovic & Weir, 2010). Although several of its language proficiency descriptors appear to be likely to be based on a variety of factors that go beyond a generic description of language proficiency such as the one found in the CEFR descriptors. This practice of making decisions for academic admission is because setting cut scores is a context-specific, value-driven process (Kane, 2001; Tannenbaum & Katz, 2013), as two recent studies demonstrate with regard to the use of cut scores of English-language proficiency tests (Ling et al., 2014; Papageorgiou & Cho,2014). For these reasons, users of the TOEFL iBT test are encouraged to set their own score
requirements in order to better serve their local needs (Educational Testing Service [ETS], 2005). In the process of setting requirements, users are also encouraged to consult empirically derived performance descriptors that provide additional evidence about the expected English proficiency of test takers at differing TOEFL iBT test score ranges (see, for example, ETS, 2014; Garcia Gomez, Noah, Schedl, Wright, & Yolkut 2007). For test users and decision makers who wish to interpret TOEFL iBT test scores in terms of the CEFR levels in order to inform their decisions, Tannenbaum and Wylie (2008) conducted a study that mapped TOEFL iBT test scores to these levels. Since the time of the mapping study (Tannenbaum & Wylie, 2008), ETS has been monitoring the needs of the above test users and decision makers and how they use the proposed CEFR cut scores (i.e., minimum test scores required for each CEFR level) to inform their admissions requirements in relation to English-language proficiency. Recall, to our knowledge, many university programs in Europe consider B2 to represent the constellation of English skills likely sufficient to cope with university instruction conducted in Englishand hence, to be sufficient for use as one criterion for admissions. Feedback from these users and decision makers, mostly universities that use CEFR levels to define admissions standards in the UK and other European countries, suggested that the TOEFL iBT test score mapping results to the CEFR levels might have been too rigorous, resulting in higher test scores than perhaps needed to reflect the English skills described by the B2 level (and other levels). Moreover, as ETS assessment developers and score users obtained a better understanding of the CEFR scales and their descriptors in the intended target language use (TLU) domain (Bachman & Palmer, 2010) for the TOEFL iBT test (i.e., postsecondary academic), it was reasonable to reconsider the relationshipETS RM-15-06 2
S. Papageorgiou et al. The Association Between TOEFL iBTScores and CEFR Levels
between test scores and the CEFR levels (see relevant discussion in Taylor, 2004). As a result of c onsi dering all the above information, and as suggested in the standard-setting literature (e.g., Geisinger & McCormick, 2010), a revised set of CEFR cut scores for the TOEFL iBT test was proposed. The rationale behind the revision is presented in this report. Although the revised cut scores reflected, in part, the feedback received from decision makers at universities that use CEFR levels to define admissions standards (mostly universities in the UK and other European countries), the reasonableness of these revised cut scores and their impact on admissions needed to be investigated. Such investigation is the focus of the work documented in subsequent sections in this report. Following an argument-based approach (Kane,2006, 2013), we aim, through the use of external, nonassessment criteria (Kane, 2001), to
provide evidence supporting two claims related to the inferences that can be made on the basis ofTOEFL iBT test scores:
Claim 1 (reasonableness of the cut scores): The revised CEFR cut scores are reasonable for making decisions about admission into higher education.
Claim 2 (impact of the cut scores): The revised CEFR cut scores do not negatively impact admissions decisions due to classification errors. Before discussing the analyses providing support to the above claims, we first present a brief overview of the CEFR and the process of mapping test scores to its levels. Mapping Test Scores to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) The CEFR is one of several publications of the Council of Europe, which have been influential in second language teaching since the 1970s (Van Ek & Trim, 1991, 1998, 2001; Wilkins, 1976). According to the Council of Europe (2001), a common framework for learning, teaching, and assessment is desirable to promote and facilitate cooperation among educational institutions in different countries; provide a sound basis for the mutual recognition of language qualifications; and assist learners, teachers, course designers, examining bodies and educational administrators in situating and coordinating their efforts. (p. 5)ETS RM-15-06 3
S. Papageorgiou et al. The Association Between TOEFL iBTScores and CEFR Levels
Although the CEFR contains rich information about the language learning process and tea ching as well as assessment in nine chapters and four appendices, its language proficiency scales 2 are arguably the best known part of the 2001 volume (Little, 2006). The CEFR scales and descriptors were primarily developed during a large research project in Switzerland (North, 2000; North & Schneider, 1998). The proficiency scales of the CEFR have gained popularity because they offer a comprehensive description of the objectives that learners can expect to achieve at different levels of language proficiency. They describe language activities and competences at six main levels: A1 (the lowest) through A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2 (the highest). they are intended to motivate learners by describing what they can do when they use the language, rather than what they cannot do (Council of Europe, 2001, p. 205). The CEFR proficiency scales provide a convenient structure for thinking about and communicating a progression of language proficiency and for considering where people stand in relation to that progression. Therefore, mapping language test scores onto the CEFR levels is a useful way to assign practical meaning to those scores. For example, if a score of at least 16 on a speaking test were associated with the CEFR B1 level, that would suggest that test takers with at (Council of Europe, 2001, p. 26). To further help test providers add meaning to their test scores in relation to the CEFR levels, the Council of Europe (2009) published a manual offering a recommended set of procedures for aligning both test content and test scores with the CEFR common currency in language education, and curricula, syllabuses, textbooks, teacher training courses, not only examinations, claim to be related to Applications of the CEFR in these areas are illustrated by several studies presented in three edited volumes (Byram & Parmenter, 2012; Figueras, & Noijons, 2009; Martyniuk, 2010) and also North (2014). A number of studies and research projects such as the DIALANG project (Alderson